Immigration

Immigration or international migration is one of the most significant and contested forms of spatial mobility of population in the 21st century. Its most basic definition is migration of a person or group of persons across a national boundary with the intent to stay. Migrations from culture regions of origin to regions of residence and control by members of other ethnic groups have occurred for millennia, but immigration as it is understood today is a relatively recent spatial phenomenon. Immigration, as defined above, assumes two requisite conditions: first, that political states have internationally recognized boundaries, and second, that political states have the sovereign right to determine who can cross those boundaries, particularly with the intent to stay. From the late 19th through the mid 20th century, for example, most of the African continent went through a spatial transformation from traditional settlement regions to colonization by European powers to independence with political borders approximating the colonial borders, ultimately imposing the status of “immigrant” to migrants who had maintained migration patterns that predated the borders. The same would be true of the former colonial regions of Asia (see Figure 1). In the Western Hemisphere, “colonists” came from a variety of countries, but new migrants were not considered “immigrants” until after each country gained its independence. Similarly, immigration defined the dominant populations and cultures of Australia and New Zealand.

Figure 1 Colonial migrations, 1500–1914, reflect the spatial reconfigurations of populations during centuries of European domination

Source: Based on Philip's Atlas of World History, 2005. Map copyright Philip's, a division of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.

This 1902 photo shows immigrants coming up the boardwalk from the barge, which has taken them off the steamship company's docks and transported them to Ellis Island. The big building in the background is the new hospital just opened. The ferry boat seen in the middle of the picture runs from New York to Ellis Island.

Source: Library of Congress.

A variety of terms are used to refer to immigrants, depending on the context. An immigrant enters a country with the intent to stay, whereas the same migrant is an emigrant from his or her country of origin. Migrations can be free, or volitional, whereby the migrants freely make the choice to immigrate to a new country, or they can be forced, in that the decision to emigrate is imposed on migrants. This latter situation can encompass a variety of migration contexts. The global slave trade has historically accounted for the largest proportion of forced migrations, but persons displaced by wars and natural disasters account for a growing number of international migrants. In a contemporary context, immigrants are also considered documented, having entered with the authorization of the host country; undocumented, having entered without such authorization; or guest workers, having entered with authorization to work but not to become permanent residents or citizens of the host country. While most countries require some form of authorization or entry visa for lawful entry, whether for a shorter period of time as a tourist, a student, or temporary laborer or permanently as an immigrant, some countries also require exit visas, or permits for their citizens to leave the country.

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